1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid chromatography apparatus, and in particular, relates to a cooling system of the liquid chromatography apparatus.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-317401, filed Sep. 9, 2003, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case in which a separation of a thermally unstable substance, such as a biopolymer, is performed using a liquid chromatography apparatus, the procedure was conventionally performed by placing the entire liquid chromatography apparatus into a refrigerated room, a refrigerated case, or the like.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-74721 (Patent Document 1) discloses a liquid chromatography apparatus in which the temperature adjustments of an eluent supply unit, a liquid feed pump, an injection valve, and a column holding portion are performed by a heated air. Japanese Patent No. 3008595 (Patent Document 2) solved a problem that a warmed sample forms a deposit after injection, by maintaining a sample dissolution tank and a separating column at constant temperature. Although each of these patent documents discloses the technology of performing temperature adjustment of a part of a liquid chromatography apparatus, they do not address the case of the separation of a thermally unstable substance, such as a biopolymer, which must be performed under low-temperature conditions.
By using the conventional method of placing an entire liquid chromatography apparatus into the refrigerated room and the like, the system for holding the liquid chromatography apparatus must be large, and the workability of placing the liquid chromatography apparatus has also been inferior as a worker must frequently walk in and out of the refrigerated room and the like. Furthermore, because the entire liquid chromatography apparatus is refrigerated, failure of the electrical system may occur frequently by condensation and the like.